When Preaching Becomes Proof-Texting: A Gentle Critique

 I often find myself unsettled when listening to certain sermons—not out of contempt, but out of sadness. A pattern has become familiar: frame a topic, collect a handful of verses from here and there, and preach on it. It is sincere, sometimes even moving. But something in me recoils, because this way of handling the Word of God feels thinner than it ought to be.

The Problem with Fragmented Preaching

This approach—sometimes called proof-texting—strings together isolated verses to support a theme. The risk is subtle but serious: Scripture begins to sound like a collection of inspirational slogans, rather than the living, breathing story of God’s redemption. A verse plucked out of its setting can easily be made to say what the preacher intends, rather than what the biblical author truly meant.

In the end, the preacher’s agenda risks taking center stage, while God’s Word is reduced to scattered soundbites.

A Chorus of Critiques Through History

This concern is not new. Great voices in the Church have raised the same critique:

• The Reformers (Luther, Calvin, and others) insisted on lectio continua—the steady, sequential preaching through books of the Bible. This way, the text sets the agenda, not the preacher. John Calvin in particular was relentless in his verse-by-verse expositions, believing that the congregation should hear all of God’s Word, even the difficult parts.

• The Church Fathers like John Chrysostom modeled expository homilies that walked carefully through passages, opening the riches of the text rather than patching together fragments.

• Karl Barth, centuries later, warned against reducing preaching to “religious thoughts” sprinkled with Bible references. For him, true preaching was a fresh encounter with God speaking through His Word.

• Modern preachers and scholars like John Stott, D.A. Carson, and Bryan Chapell echo the same concern: topical preaching too often becomes man-centered, therapeutic, or moralistic—while expository preaching keeps Christ and God’s redemptive story at the center.

The Pastoral Cost

Topical proof-texting also has pastoral consequences. Congregations trained on this diet may come to think of the Bible as a spiritual medicine cabinet—verses pulled out to soothe or fix problems—rather than as the unified story of God’s work in history. This shapes a consumer mindset: “What does the Bible say about my issue?” instead of “What does God want to teach me through His Word?”

The Better Way

Expository preaching offers a healthier alternative. By patiently unfolding the meaning of a passage in its context, the preacher allows God’s Word—not human preference—to shape the message. Over time, this nourishes the church with the full counsel of God and keeps Christ at the center of every sermon.

A Closing Reflection

So my sadness is not simply that sermons are poorly crafted, but that the immense riches of Scripture are being underused. When the Bible is treated as a quarry for sermon material rather than as God’s unfolding story, something precious is lost.

The task of the preacher is not merely to support a topic with verses, but to stand under the Word, letting it speak in its fullness and its fire. Anything less risks leaving God’s people with fragments, when they hunger for the feast.